In my final year of training to be a midwife, I have decided to undertake my elective in the town of Pokhara, Nepal. In April 2017, I will be travelling to Nepal to work as a student midwife. In order to fundraise for the trip, I'm running a half marathon in the New Year!

The money I raise will help fund the course that I'll undertake in Nepal, it will allow me to take medical supplies to the hospital which is under resourced and would benefit greatly from the equipment.
This elective placement was inspired by my trip to Tanzania in 2014, where I got a chance to experience midwifery first hand in a developing country. It was an amazing, life changing experience that sparked my desire to travel as a midwife. It's become my passion to practice midwifery around the world throughout my career, and I feel lucky to have the chance to experience a huge range of different practices and types of maternity care provided in different countries and cultures.

Every day around the world, 830 women die from preventable causes related to childbirth and pregnancy. 99% of these mortalities are in developing countries. (WHO, 2015). The World Health Organisation (WHO) suggests that the single most important intervention is a skilled birth attendant, yet 50% of the world’s women give birth without skilled midwifery health care professionals. There is a great need for development of maternity care within third world countries, and qualified midwives have the potential to make a huge difference within these countries, through physical care as well as training and education.

The experience will provide me with understanding and new knowledge of maternity care in developing countries, that I wouldn't be able to experience without working overseas. I believe it will enhance my ability to provide care and support for women in challenging environments, and contribute to my general practice. This trip to Pokhara will be the first step on my journey to travel the world as a midwife.